COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — U-Haul employees found stacks of child pornography inside a Portage Park storage unit after the renter stopped making payments, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Dennis Long, 54, rented the unit in January 2015 and stopped paying for it by fall, Assistant State's Attorney Karisa Flores said during a bond hearing Wednesday.
U-Haul tried to auction off the unit in the 4300 block of North Cicero Avenue in November and January to no avail, prosecutors said.
So on Jan. 21, U-Haul employees started to clear out Long's belongings, according to Flores.
As staffers lifted a desk, multiple images of child pornography fell to the ground, prosecutors said. These included children younger than 13 engaged in sexual poses.
U-Haul called police, and Long was arrested on Monday following an investigation, court records show.
Long, of the 5700 block of West Irving Park Road, is charged with possession of child pornography.
According to prosecutors, Long was previously convicted of battery in 1983. He has no other criminal history.
During a bond hearing Wednesday, Long told Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. that he works as a union carpenter. The judge set bail at $250,000.
